Girls Basketball: Spring-Ford faces Cumberland Valley for state crown

From the time a lot of them first met on the basketball court, as fifth-graders, they formed a bond that through the years would become tensile-strong.

Their sorority was based on success brought about by hard work, determination and drive.

Friday night, that magical journey that began way back at their school’s 7th Grade Center has reached its final destination for the five seniors on Spring-Ford’s girls basketball team.

The Pioneer Athletic Conference and District One champion Rams (31-2) square off against District 3 No. 5 seed Cumberland Valley (26-6) at 6 p.m. at Hershey’s Giant Center with the PIAA Class AAAA championship on the line.

Spring-Ford, which has won 23 straight games and is ranked 22nd in the nation by USA Today, is attempting to bring home its first state crown in a team sport in its 48-year history.

“It would honestly mean the world to us,” said senior guard Brittany Moore. “We’ve been dreaming about this since we were younger. We came to every high school basketball game together. We watched (former Rams stars) Allie Kakareka, Megan Bedard, all of those girls. We were like, ‘We want to be just like them,’ We always knew we wanted to accomplish something big.”

Those closest to the Spring-Ford program had seen the potential for something big with this group for a while.

Current freshman coach John Murtin envisioned it when the current batch of seniors were in the seventh and eighth grades.

Veteran varsity coach Jeff Rinehimer and his longtime assistant, Mickey McDaniel, could also see the prime-time potential, but both realized it would still take years of seasoning, improvement of skill and big-game experience.

The Rams took their program to the next level last season, bringing home the PAC-10 and District 1 titles in a 30-win campaign that saw them reach the state semis.

That experience fully opened the eyes of a lot of players, like seniors Courtney Hinnant and Sammi Haas.

“We always thought about the PAC-10 championship,” Hinnant said. “But we never really thought about any of this until last year when we got that far.”

“Honestly, I didn’t know about any of this until last year,” admitted Haas. “I didn’t even know there were districts or anything like that. I had always thought the PAC-10 was the biggest thing. When we were really little and watching Allie Kakareka and those teams, I remember I was so excited for them when they won the PAC-10. Then last year we went and won districts, and it was such an amazing feeling. And now we’re here. It’s just so unreal.”

“It’s just been a great experience,” said junior forward Shelby Mueller, who like Haas has impressively elevated her game in the past year. “I can’t wait (for Friday’s game). I’m so excited. I know we all are.”

Though state gold had been the ultimate goal for the Rams since they walked off the court at Norristown after falling to eventual state champ Archbishop Carroll in last year’s semifinal, they have done a remarkable job staying focused throughout a season that began with preseason practice back in November and officially tipped off Dec. 8.

Though they began with a hiccup, blowing a late lead in a 58-56 loss to Notre Dame Academy, the Rams never wavered from their mission of continually improving, buying into their defense-first mantra and taking care of the day-to-day tasks at practice while looking only towards their next opponent.

They blew through the PAC-10 slate like an F-5 tornado, going 13-0 in league play and eventually dispatching Methacton (an eventual PIAA-AAAA qualifier) 53-23 in the title game.

They tore apart the District 1 bracket with the force of a crossfire hurricane, winning their five games by an average margin of 25.6 points and capping it with a 51-30 win over traditional power Mount St. Joseph Academy in the district final.

And, after cruising to their first PIAA tourney victories by an average margin of 18 points, the Rams showed their composure, character and courage by outlasting District 12 champion Cardinal O’Hara 53-49 in a semifinal war.

“I can’t really even describe how excited I was when I came to the realization we were actually going to the state championship,” said senior reserve guard Kirsten Landis. “I think I dreamed about it a little bit, but it’s still surreal.”

“I think at the end of last year was really when it hit us,” senior forward Sarah Payonk said. “Going into the state semifinal game, we were like, ‘We actually have a shot at this.’

“It was definitely a hard loss, but coming back from the game, we all kind of thought, ‘Next year there’s nothing that should stop us from getting there.’”

Now the Rams are just 32 minutes away from a golden finish to an incredible odyssey.

“It would mean everything: for me, the team, the coaches and the community,” said junior guard Sammy Stipa.

“It would just be a great way for our seniors to end our high school careers,” Payonk said. “Something that would show all the hard work we put into basketball in our four years.”